


Just The Way You Are

by gracedameron



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Bisexual Jack Kelly, Bonding, Coming Out, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, could fit in my One of Us AU, their friends are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 07:04:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15383319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracedameron/pseuds/gracedameron
Summary: Jack comes out to Katherine.





	Just The Way You Are

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in June for pride month and forgot to post it so happy continued pride, babes!

*

Jack wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. He’d done this at least a dozen times before, it’d never been a big deal. Coming out wasn’t as scary as he thought it would be, he’d long ago accepted who he was, he was bisexual and proud, and it stopped being so scary after the first few times. He’d known for years, figuring it out early in high school, exploring until he was comfortable with a label, and it soon became part of his identity like everything else about him. 

But it was private. He didn’t flaunt his sexuality to the world like some of his other friends did, it just wasn’t his style. The people who were close to him knew, and he was sure that plenty of others questioned, but he wasn’t as bold as some about it. Race would walk into the room announcing  _ “MOVE I’M GAY”  _ once a week, and while Jack resembled that statement, he wasn’t as loud about it. 

Coming out to Crutchie had been easy. He was nervous, but Jack wasn’t afraid of what Crutchie would say. And once he’d said it, Crutchie admitted that he already knew.

_ “You knew?” _

_ “Of course I knew, Jackie. I’ve known ya forever. I was waitin’ for when you’d figure it out.” _

Telling Medda had been even easier. She’d given him a huge hug, told him she was proud of him, and then asked what he wanted for dinner. 

Jack dated one boy in high school. It lasted almost a year, and fizzled out as they started making college plans in opposite life directions. He was grateful for the experience, they still followed each other on instagram. It was nice in high school, but most kids at his school weren’t nearly as accepting as Crutchie or Miss Medda, so Jack kept things quiet. He liked it better that way anyway.

College was a completely different ballgame. He’d never been around so many people who were a lot like him. So many artists and free thinkers, so many dreamers and doers, so much diversity and people with different stories to tell. He loved it. He thrived on it. Coming out was easy when he knew other people would understand. He came out to Race almost immediately upon meeting him and they’d been close friends ever since. He’d told Davey casually one afternoon while studying, and it was nothing. Spot had known for years. Albert actually asked, which had never happened to Jack before but he was pleasantly surprised. It was easy to be out around them.

But he hadn’t told the most important person yet, and the anxiety was eating at him. He and Katherine were  _ dating _ now. Officially dating. They’d been so close for a year and he’d never found the moment to say anything. He’d chicken out if the opportunity presented itself, and now he felt like a liar for not being up front with Katherine about it sooner. 

Logically, he knew that Katherine was one of the most accepting and open minded people he knew, that her opinion of him wouldn’t change in the least if she knew his sexuality. But there was a fear in the back of his head that he couldn’t shake. What if she was freaked out that he’d dated a guy? What if it made her uncomfortable and she didn’t want to date him anymore? What if she thought he was a liar for not saying something sooner? What if, what if, what if?

_ No. _

Jack steeled himself and played with his worn Yankees cap in his hands as he waited for Katherine to come back from the bathroom to their table at their favorite sushi place near campus. He could do this. He could tell her. She probably wouldn’t even say anything, if she asked questions he’d be honest. If she broke up with him he’d-

_ She’s not going to break up with you, idiot. Stop it. _

“Hey, you okay?” Katherine asked as she sat back down across from him, smoothing her skirt and pulling apart the wooden chopsticks on her plate. 

“Hmm?” Jack shoved his hat back on his head. “Yeah, why?”

“You look worried.”

He shook his head, glancing down at his paint stained hands. “Hey, Kath?” 

Katherine looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“Can…” he took a deep breath. “Can I tell you something?”

Katherine nodded. “Of course, love. What’s on your mind?”

Jack bounced his leg under the table with anxiety. He hadn’t felt this scared about coming out in a long time, he’d almost forgotten what this kind of anxiety felt like. His heart was beating heavy in his chest and his hands felt all tingly and shaky and he held Katherine’s eyes as he let the words tumble out of his mouth before he lost his nerve. 

“I should’ve told you this like a long time ago, but I’m...I’m bisexual. And I don’t like super hide it, but I don’t talk about it a lot either, and I should’ve said something  _ before _ we started dating so I’m sorry but-”

“Jack?”

Jack clamped his mouth shut to stop himself from rambling more. “Hmm?”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“You…” Jack blinked. “You know?”

Katherine smiled and thanked the waitress as she brought their sushi rolls, putting their respective rolls in front of them. 

“Yeah,” Katherine continued as the waitress left, “Do you want soy sauce?”

Jack felt confusion setting in instead of anxiety. “How did you know?” he asked, taking the soy sauce as Katherine slid the tiny dish over to him. “Did Race tell you?”

“No, no one told me. I could tell.” 

“You could?” Jack’s voice felt a little shaky. “You’re sure no one told you?”

Katherine shook her head, starting to eat her sushi. “Nope. Are you out to everyone else and not me?”

“I…” Jack shook his head. “I mean, kinda? I don’t really talk about it much. Just...how’d you know?”

Katherine smiled. “First of all, I know you super well and I’m not stupid. You’ve made gay jokes in the groupchat. You talked about your ex, and said “he” one time in passing. And I saw a picture on your Instagram from pride last year.”

Jack thought for a minute before a smile split his confused expression. “You little investigative reporter,” he laughed, “I shouldn’t have doubted you.” 

Katherine popped a sushi piece into her mouth and smirked. “Nope, you shouldn’t have.” 

“So...you’re okay with it?” 

Katherine swallowed and shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I dunno,” Jack shrugged, picking at his sushi roll. “You’re not upset I didn’t tell you?”

“Jack, of course not,” she said softly, almost a little hurt that he’d be worried about that. “Babe, you didn’t have to tell me ever if you didn’t want to, it’s not my place to be mad at you for that, it’s a personal thing. I’m so sorry if I ever gave you reason to doubt being able to tell me.”

“No no,” Jack assured her, feeling his neck redden with embarrassment, “It’s not you, I just...I got all self-conscious. I knew you’d be fine wit’ it. I dunno what I was thinkin’.” He reached for his hat again and Katherine gave him a reassuring smile.

“I love you just the way you are,” she said, “Bi or straight. And I don’t want you to think you can’t tell me things like that, because I’m here for you, always.”

“Thanks, Kath.” he reached for her hand across the table and squeezed it. “An’ I’m always here for you too.” he took another bite of his food and smirked at her. “So if you wanna confess anythin’ ‘bout your sexuality, now’s your chance.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes a little bit. “I’m tragically heterosexual, I’m sorry.”

“Ah,” Jack winked. “Not so tragic, you’re pretty much the coolest hetero girl I’ve ever dated.”

“Am I the only girl you’ve ever dated?” she asked, and Jack snorted. 

“For your information, no, you’re not,” he teased. “But you’re definitely the only one who matters.”

Katherine scrunched her nose at him and ate another piece of sushi. “Shut up.”

“You shut up,” he said with a grin. “You’re cute when you do that thing with your nose.”

Katherine covered her face as she blushed. “Stoppp.”

“You love itttt,” he teased, kicking her lightly under the little table. 

“Nooo,” she kicked him back and giggled into her sushi. “Tell me about your ex-boyfriend.”

“Not much to tell,” Jack admitted carefully, “He was nice, we were basically just buds an’ we’d kiss sometimes. Neither of us were really out at school so’s it was mostly secret. Then he went ta college in California, an’ I started here, an’ we kinda just let it end. No big deal.”

“At least it was on good terms, right?” 

“Yeah,” Jack nodded. “It was.”

“You don’t have to hide stuff from me, Jack.” she said after a moment, “I know it’s a very personal journey and super different for everyone, and we can’t all have Race’s confidence, but you don’t need to be afraid of me about this.” Her eyes lit up. “Ooh! We can talk about boys together! This is exciting!” 

“Oh God.” Jack laughed.

“I have so many male celebrities I need your opinion on.” 

“An’ so it begins.”

“This is great. Brand new bonding experience. We can watch movies for the shameless eye candy and both enjoy ourselves! I’m so ready for this. Date night!”

“You’re enjoyin’ this way too much, ain’t ya?” Jack asked, smirk still on his face.

“Oh yes,” Katherine agreed. “I am. And if you don’t like it you can tell me.”

“I love it,” he admitted, “I can introduce you to mine and Race’s ass ranking list.”

Katherine sputtered on her boba tea with a laugh. “I’m sorry, your  _ what _ ?”

“The Ass List. It’s great. It ranks everyone’s asses in our friend-group on scale of most impressive to least impressive.”

Katherine snorted. “Just the guys?” 

“Well, yeah mostly. Mine’s number one, for obvious reasons.”

“ _ Valid _ .”

“We included you and Sarah on the list. You’re in a solid third place, after Albert. Pretty nice work, Ace.” Jack said simply.

Katherine nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Jack giggled into his tea shaking his head. “I was worried ‘bout this for nothin’,” he admitted. “Thanks, Kath.” 

“No thanks needed,” she said simply, “I love everything about you, Jack Kelly, bisexuality and ass list included.” 

Jack scoffed. “You just like me because I’m on top of the list.” 

Katherine took a sip of her tea and shrugged. “I mean, that might be true, but you’ve got plenty of other decent qualities about you.”

Jack smirked. “You flatter me.”

Katherine winked and blew him a kiss, making Jack laugh at her. He was glad this went so well. He really had to stop doubting himself and the people in his life. 

_ She loves you. Stop doubting it. She loves you just the way you are. _

*

**Author's Note:**

> the ass list is a real ranking, shoutout to Claire and Anna for contributing. ;)
> 
> I'd love to hear what you guys think! thanks for reading!  
> @gracetrack-higgins on tumblr


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